//------------------------------// // Not the Right Kind of Adventure // Story: Happy Adventuring, Twilight! // by Pennington Inkwell //------------------------------// "Two hundred bits?" Twilight shouted in outrage. "And the train doesn't leave for a week." The elderly pony behind the glass grumbled. "So, you have a week to raise the money! Great, right?" Before Twilight could argue with the sarcastic vendor any longer, a metal sheet slammed shut behind the glass. "But I have to get home!" Twilight shouted, finally collapsing in the empty train station. It was more like a shack next to a pair of railroad tracks. In fact, the entire town looked dilapidated. Everything was made from weather-worn wood and steel nails, and looked as if the entire town had collectively said, "We're your last stop, so it doesn't matter what we look like!" "Any luck?" Pennington shouted as he walked back to the lavender pony. "If my watch is right, you've been here for almost an hour!" He was levitating a large styrofoam cup in front of him. "The train doesn't leave again for an entire week!" Twilight shouted as she jumped to her hooves. Her horn bristled with angry energy at Pennington's nonchalance. "You got me stranded in this border town for an entire week!" Pennington took a step back, but moved the cup towards Twilight, along with a white plastic spork. "I hate to say it, but you were the one who insisted on following me here... Here, I got us lunch!" With a pop, the lid flew off of the container, revealing... a steaming cup of ramen. "I don't want your ramen! I hate ramen!" Twilight screamed, smashing the cup with her hoof. "I want to go home!" Pennington took another step back, praying that the next thing to smash wouldn't be a part of him. "I-I'm sorry, but-" "You should be!" Twilight's eyes began to water, both from her panic and the near-boiling broth that had just splashed all over her leg. "You should be sorry, Pennington Inkwell!" Her spirit finally broke and she slumped to the ground in a heap, hopelessly burying her head in her front legs. "Tonight was the night that I was going to take inventory at the library, too..." Twilight didn't expect much at this moment, but she was surprised to feel a friendly attempt at comfort in the form of a pat on her shoulder and a whisper in her ear. "It's getting late, Twilight. I've already found a motel here in town and rented a two-bed suite to spend the night. Something tells me that this town isn't a safe place to wander around after dark, so train or no train, we need to move." Pennington's words were low and his tone was serious, more serious than he seemed to have been for most of the day. His words rung true in Twilight's mind, striking a clear note that action needed to be taken. She looked up from the ground, and found Pennington to be so close, their noses nearly touched. I didn't even hear him walk over... His dark lavender eyes once again locked hers in place, and Twilight couldn't help but feel like they were still searching for something, just like they had been when she was telling him about the story she wanted him to write... Until a flash of cold calculation spread across them, and he broke his gaze to look up at the setting sun. "Well, it's not very far, but we still need to move quickly to be there before nightfall. Getting mugged is not the kind of adventure I came for!" With the joke breaking the tension, he offered Twilight a hoof to help her up, which she gladly accepted. As the two walked briskly down the main (and only) street of the broken-down town, the sun set behind the mountains on the horizon in only a few minutes, and dusk settled in to herald the approach of darkness. "Well, if it isn't the little ramen boy..." A voice called out from the darkness. Acting on cue, several ponies walked out from nearby alleyways, blocking off their path towards the motel, only a couple blocks away. A light orange pegasus with a cutie mark of a wallet and switchblade stepped out into the light of a streetlamp. "Don't act like you're surprised, Red! We saw you flashing those bits at the restaurant, and we're here for our share!" "Red," obviously referencing the bright crimson that Pennington had dyed his mane to, stood tall. "Sorry, but I spent it all on supplies. I've been making the last preparations for a little camping trip..." "Don't give me that drit!" The pegasus chuckled. "We've been following you ever since then. You didn't buy any supplies..." He began pacing around them like a caged tiger, his wings rustling in anticipation. "Well, I intend to. Tomorrow morning. Right before I go, actually!" Pennington's body had become tense and stiff, reflecting the danger of the situation. Twilight moved a bit closer to her companion for safety, brushing against his side as her horn began to bristle with energy. "Besides, you can check my bag. I left everything, including my wallet, locked in the motel." To illustrate his point, he turned his single saddlebag upside down, showing that it was completely empty. "Well, maybe we'll just take the girl! She'll be worth a good time..." One pony shouted from behind their leader. Twilight could feel her heart nearly stop with fear at the thought of what they might do to her. "There's no 'maybe' about it! You won't." Twilight spoke up, eyes narrowing. With the flat denial, Twilight could see and hear several blades coming out of their sheaths and handles. "The way I see it, you have two choices..." The leading pegasus pulled a knife out from the feathers of his wings, gripping it tightly in one hoof. "One: You can walk away from here alone and unharmed, and two of your new 'friends' here will go back to the motel with you for your money and everything else we might want. Two: We can drain your blood from your body with a few easy slashes, leave you in a ditch somewhere, and take your girlfriend AND your stuff!" Without waiting for an answer, he walked towards Pennington, knife poised for an attack with practiced grace. Twilight looked up at Pennington, trying to gain some kind of clue as to what was going to happen from his face. His gaze had turned steely, his jaw was clenched, and his eyes had narrowed in a deadly focus. "Three: You all leave, Twilight Sparkle stays with me, and I keep my stuff!" His horn was beginning to glow, as well, forming a white mist that spread out into the air around them ,gathering around his front legs and chest. "Wrong answer!" The pegasus took a swift moment to roll his eyes, then lashed forward with the knife, aiming for Pennington's chest. Twilight leaped backwards to avoid being cut, herself, only barely keeping her balance. The sound of metal on metal rang out though the air. Everything seemed to freeze in that moment, with every pony wondering the same thing. What was that noise? Pennington was standing tall, looking down at the pony who had attacked him. His horn was still shining like a beacon and his teeth were gritted with with the effort of whatever spell he was casting. The knife was embedded in a white glow around his chest, which Twilight quickly recognized as the mist that he had been forming. The blade was dangerously close to his heart, but hadn't reached him. In a matter of seconds, the mist grew closer and solidified into what appeared to be a chest plate of armor, and the smoke around his legs formed two thick braces. The armor looked to be about an inch thick, a translucent sky-blue filled with glimmers of light, and the braces ended in a pair of hook-like blades near his hooves. Each blade looked as if it could be used to snag an opponent's weapon or be used as a weapon on its own. There was a moment as Pennington looked down and yanked the blade from where it had embedded itself. As nonchalantly as he could, Pennington kicked the knife back towards Twilight and out of the pegasus's reach. "Hold onto these for me, would you? A good knife is priceless when you're out adventuring... Getting five of them from these punks is going to be like Hearth's Warming!" He jabbed his front hoof forward, knocking the pegasus backwards. "I'd like to take care of these hooligans myself... Would you mind, Twilight?" "N-no, go ahead..." Twilight shook her head, trying to understand what had happened. She'd seen and even used spells to summon objects before, but this seemed different. This wasn't summoning, this was creating. Where did he learn a spell like that? "In case you didn't know, that means that I'll be taking your knives, and you'll all be heading back home, now." Pennington growled. "Because you just threatened my friend, and I'm not going to let that pass without a price... She could probably knock you all unconscious with a single spell, but you wouldn't learn a lesson!" The pegasus had finally snapped out of his confusion, and let out a low whistle. "Well, well, well! That ramen must be packed full of vitamins, isn't it?" The four other ponies, three more pegasi and an earth pony, all stepped into the spotlight, silver blades gleaming in their hooves. "But enough playing 'hero,' we have a tight schedule to keep. Places to be, money to take, time to kill..." He stepped backwards, disappearing behind his comrades. "Well, I'll make sure that this doesn't last long." Pennington whispered, signaling the end of the banter. One of the pegasi jumped forward, aiming for Pennington's unprotected flank with a stabbing motion. Pennington jumped backwards, forcing the stab to instead land on the armor. The blade quickly wedged itself partway through, and a sudden roll to the side wrenched it from his grip, along with twisting his ankle backwards with a nasty crunching sound. Pennington rolled to his right, in the opposite direction of his attack. One of his front legs lashed out, slicing the front leg of the earth pony in a single, smooth action, forcing him to drop his knife and use his other front leg to hold himself up. The two limped back out of the unofficial arena, leaving it to their two remaining comrades to finish the fight. The two pegasi nodded at each other, taking to the air and flying out of sight. By now, night had completely fallen, and to leave the light cast by Pennington's armor and the streetlight rendered them nearly invisible. Pennington remained vigilant, tossing the two useless knives back in Twilight's direction. "Twilight? Are you okay?" "I'm fine! You were the one who said that I can defend myself!" She shouted, picking up the knives. "Don't worry about me, worry about them!" Pennington's eyes flicked from side to side every few seconds, as he waited for his attackers to return. "Come on! Did you want to finish this fight, or are those chicken feathers you're wearing?" The insult did its work well, prompting both ponies to come out from the shadows at once. They both rushed at him from opposite sides, striking like guided missiles. With hardly a moment to react, Pennington instinctively jumped. He was already tense, and the sudden fright of ponies appearing out of nowhere propelled him into the air and backwards, just in time to watch the two run head-first into one another with a loud crack. The sound echoed down the entire street and forced both Pennington and Twilight to cringe. As the two unconscious bodies settled down for the night, Pennington picked up their knives as well, tossing them back to Twilight with all of the care one would give to throwing away a used tissue. "Well, any other takers?" Pennington panted, obviously exhausted. The light from his horn was beginning to sputter, and the armor began to melt away into blue mist. The first pegasus, the only uninjured foe at the moment, jumped over his unconscious lackeys and landed nose-to-nose with Pennington, who was quickly losing his armor to exhaustion. "You just made the last mistake of your life, thinking that you could beat us all..." His hoof pulled back, suddenly holding a new knife that gleamed with murderous intent. It was Pennington's turn to be surprised, having assumed that each member would have only one blade. The blade thrust downward, aiming for Pennington's heart. Then, in a flash of bright purple light, he disappeared. Blasted backwards and into a nearby building, where he slumped to the ground after colliding with the wall. Pennington turned back around, and Twilight was standing just behind him, horn brimming with energy. The final knife, which was revealed to be only a slightly smaller switchblade, levitated over to Twilight and into her saddlebag. "Don't look so surprised!" Twilight couldn't help but grin, despite the pounding of her heart against her rib cage. The look of surprise on Pennington's face was priceless. "You're not the only one who can fight, you know..." "Yes... Well... I... I... I need help." Pennington muttered as his entire body slumped to the side. Twilight barely managed to get underneath him in time to catch the falling stallion. She groaned with effort for a moment before swapping over to her magic to levitate him into a standing position again. "Are you okay, Pennington?" "I need to rest...The adrenaline's gone, now." He whispered, putting one of his front legs around Twilight's shoulders for support. "Don't worry." Twilight looked down at the bodies lying on the ground, and the two confused ponies who had managed to limp away with smaller injuries. "I think that we just made enough of an impression to go undisturbed for the night..." Once they had reached the motel, Pennington immediately made a beeline for the bed, still panting heavily. "Twilight, could you get me my bag, please?" When he reached the edge of the bed, he simply collapsed onto it, rather than trying to climb. With some effort, he rolled into the center, finally stretching out his entire body, from horn to tail. Twilight looked around and discovered Pennington's second saddlebag, stuffed to the point of almost bursting. She picked it up and brought it to the edge of the bed. "What do you need?" "Just turn it upside down... What I need is near the bottom." He didn't even have to look at Twilight, keeping his eyes shut. "It's a small container... Black, and only about the size of your hoof..." Twilight hated to make a mess, but she knew that trying to argue with him would be too much for Pennington to handle, seeing as he was tottering on the edge of consciousness as it was. As she tipped the contents onto the floor, a maraca-like sound grated against her ears. The contents all spilled out onto the floor, spreading everywhere in a mess that Twilight vowed to clean up later. A shiny bottle with a black finish rolled out last, landing on top of the rest of Pennington's belongings. Twilight recognized it immediately, she had seen many of them on her trips to see Zecora. "Pennington, do you mean this?" She lifted the bottle of pills into his sight, giving it a slight shake. "What do you need a prescription for?" "Two pills, Twilight..." He muttered, his words beginning to slur. "Quickly, please!" Twilight nodded, remembering that there would be time for questions later. She unscrewed the lid with ease and pulled out two greasy-looking pills, each one looking like a chalky substance encased in some kind of clear coating. She leaned up onto the bed, hovering the pills above his mouth. "Open wide..." Pennington did as he was told, opening his mouth and swallowing the pills. Within seconds of taking the pills, he had finally fallen asleep. Despite the fierce fight that he had put on earlier, Pennington now looked completely helpless, like a little colt settling down for his afternoon nap. Twilight didn't need long to clean up the mess, neatly packing everything into his saddlebag in an organized manner and placing the pills near the top layers of items. Though her mind was buzzing with questions, she managed to shove them all aside and slip under the covers of the second bed. As she, too, fell asleep, Twilight dreamed of her older brother, Shining Armor, fighting tooth and hoof against the gang that had attacked them. Somehow, the image of her brother occasionally lost focus, instead changing to a crimson blur that she somehow knew was "Scorching Quill."